We open on a tiny boat on the stormy seas "off the mid-west coast of the Dark Continent." Ah, we're headed back to Africa. Our hero is the intrepid white hunter Joe Barton, whose boat is tipped over during a storm. Barton "native boy" Natombo can't swim so he drowns in the storm (said "boy" sure looked to be a grown man). Barton is washed ashore and awakens in a cozy bed with a beautiful woman standing over him. "Looks like I made Heaven at last!" Joe quips. Boy, gotta love that white privilege! The woman introduces herself as the Countess Selenka; her "native boys" found him on the beach of her uncharted island. (and yes, I will document every disparaging use of "boy", sue me) Selenka's husband, the count, is away on the mainland, hunting.
Selenka treats Joe to a grand dinner in full dress clothes but they're interrupted by the arrival of Count Boris, her husband. Boris tells Selenka to leave as he's eager to speak with Joe. "Your fame precedes you, Mr. Barton!" Boris leads Joe to his trophy room to show off the many animals he's slain. Joe imagines Boris is very proud of his trophies but Boris is modest to a fault. "As an experienced hunter, you must know that once you've got a beast lined up in your sights, he's pretty helpless against the power of your rifle!" Boris then asks how Joe would react if he were the hunted instead of the hunter. Joe imagines, "Because a human being has the power of reason, and can adapt himself to situations, he would attempt to outwit the hunter instead of foolishly rushing his opponent as a beast does! But that's something we'll never know!" Au contraire, stupid white protagonist! Count Boris draws a gun (coloured orange for some reason; it makes Boris look like Scaramanga) and insists they'll find the answer that very night. "You, sir, shall furnish me with an evening of rare sport!"
Selenka is put out by her husband's rude behaviour (I imagine hunting guests to their doom looks bad in the society columns) but there's nothing for it; Boris gives Joe a two hour head start into the jungle, then the hunt will begin. Joe quickly begins using his brain to build traps to snare Boris, but Boris is too clever and sees through them (good to see this element from the original story being used). For some reason Selenka follows along with Boris during the hunt. Joe finally tries to hide in a cave but it turns out to be a dead end and Boris corners him. The two men struggle hand-to-hand, but Boris is stronger than Joe. Just as Boris is about to clobber Joe with a boulder, the countess takes her husband's rifle and shoots him in the back. She justifies her actions because "He was cruel! He was mad! I could not stand by and watch him take the life of the one man who was gallant enough to risk his life for mine!" Hold the phone, "risk his life for mine"? When did that happen? Anyway, Joe asks the countess to leave the island with him but she politely declines, sending him away with a new boat. He hopes to return one day to finish his dinner with her, if you know what I mean.
My thoughts: This story uses a few of The Most Dangerous Game tropes which the other versions ignored, mostly due to Joe Barton being a professional hunter like the Rainsford of the original story. But boy, Joe isn't much good; while the other protagonists were either much, much better than the hunter villain or at least evenly-matched, Joe is the hunter's inferior and needs to be rescued. The departures from the usual formula are nice and Carmine Infantino's artwork is quite good!
All images courtesy of The Digital Comic Museum
The Hunter:
- A Russian nobleman (4/4 points)
- Who is a big game hunter (4/4 points)
- But is no longer challenged by big game (4/4 points)
- So he hunts men on his secluded island (4/4 points)
Justifying this through a eugenics/Darwinian philosophy(0/4 points)- He is aided by his servants
, including a disfigured mute(2/4 points) And his vicious hunting dogs(0/4 points)He obtains his prey by scuttling nearby ships(0/4 points)His victims are given a time limit of 3 days; if they are alive at the deadline, they win the hunt(0/4 points)As a further example of his sense of "sportsmanship", he will deliberately prolong the hunt if he finds it interesting(0/4 points)His victims are placed on display in his trophy room(0/4 points)
The Hunted:
- A famous big game hunter (4/4 points)
- Who philosophizes about what (if anything) animals sense while being hunted (4/4 points)
- He is cast overboard and finds himself on the hunter's island, alone (4/4 points)
- The hunter knows him because of his reputation (4/4 points)
When he learns the hunter's scheme he refuses to hunt alongside him(0/4 points)- Hunted by the hunter, he flees into the wilderness trying to avoid detection (4/4 points)
His only tool is a knife which the hunter gave him(0/4 points)- In time he constructs traps to kill the hunter or his servants (4/4 points)
He survives the ordeal by leaping over a cliff(0/4 points)Although the hunt is over, he confronts the hunter and duels him to the death(0/4 points)
The Island:
- Is a tropical island in the
CaribbeanAtlantic, near Africa (3/4 points) Surrounded by dangerous reefs which wreck ships(0/4 points)The island has a dangerous swamp(0/4 points)- And high cliffs (4/4 points)
Total score: 49/100!
This game is proving interesting. Let's continue tomorrow!
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